Dr. Sulayman S. Nyang (1944 - 12 November 2018) was a professor and former chairman of the African Studies Department at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

in Washington, D.C. He was a co-principal investigator of the Project MAPS and also a former deputy

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

and head of chancery of the

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

Embassy in

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's promi ...

. Nyang served as consultant to several national and international agencies and on the boards of the African Studies Association, the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies, America's Islamic Heritage Museum, and the Association of Muslim Social Scientists. He wrote extensively on

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n and

Middle Eastern The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (European ...

affairs. He held a master's degree in public administration and a Ph.D. in government from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

. Nyang was an advising scholar for the award-winning, PBS-broadcast documentaries '' Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet'' (2002) and ''

Prince Among Slaves ''Prince Among Slaves'' is a 2006 historical drama directed, written and produced by Andrea Kalin and narrated by Mos Def made for PBS by Unity Productions Foundation. The film, made in association with Spark Media and Duke Media, is based on the ...

'' (2007), produced b
Unity Productions Foundation

Selected books

*''Islam, Christianity and African Identity'' (1984) *''A Line in the Sand: Saudi Arabia’s Role in the Gulf War'' (1995), co-authored with Evan Hendricks *''Religious Plurality in Africa: Essays in Honor of John S. Mbiti'' (1993 and co-authored with Jacob Olupona).

References

Gambian writers Gambian academics Howard University faculty University of Virginia alumni 1944 births 2018 deaths {{Gambia-bio-stub

Selected books

See also

References